From the previous thread

re: #198 Backwoods_Sleuth

Laughter is Medicine.. Baby’s First Laugh Ceremony.

A Navajo Tradition (A’wee Chi’deedloh) of Celebrating Family.
It’s believed that the first time a Navajo baby laughs is a sign the child is transitioning from the spirit world & is ready to fully join his or her family in life. pic.twitter.com/gw3TO1vBzM

— 🪶Native Red Cloud🪶Mahpiya Luta 🪶5thGen🦬FM3⚡️🦉 (@Native3rd) September 14, 2021

Navajo Baby’s First Laugh Ceremony

I learned of Ashii Asdzan- Salt Woman, during my niece’s A’wee Chi’deedloh- the Baby’s First Laugh Ceremony. In Navajo we celebrate a baby’s first laugh, we believe babies before they laugh are part of the Holy Peoples’ world and haven’t fully settled in with the Earth Peoples’ world. It’s when they laugh they are telling us they are ready to join the community of the Earth People. It is also believed that a child assumes the qualities of the person who witnesses, or coaxes, her/his first giggle and is the person to host the baby’s First Laugh Ceremony. In celebration of the baby joining the Earth People, the community gathers in prayer and in receiving salt crystals from the baby’s right hand at the ceremony. Placed on the food or tongue, the salt is meant to rejuvenate the good character in each recipient and serve as the first in a lifetime of generous acts by the child. This exchange is a teaching taught by Ashii Asdzaan-Salt Women who came from the salt mines of the Grand Canyon. Source